Vampire Survivors creator has “no idea” why roguelike is successful

Vampire Survivors creator Luca Galante says he has “no idea” why the Steam survival game roguelike is so successful, following the first Vampire Survivors DLC

Vampire Survivors creator has “no idea” why roguelike is successful. A monster with long hair and yellow eyes from Steam survival game and roguelike Vampire Survivors

The creator of roguelike Vampire Survivors, Luca Galante, says that he has “no idea” why the indie Steam survival game has proven so popular, saying it was “incredible” to be nominated for The Game Awards, following the launch of the first Vampire Survivors DLC Legacy of the Moonspell.

Beginning development back in 2020, Galante launched the full version of Vampire Survivors in October 2022. Since then, it has received over 165,000 reviews on Steam, earning the coveted “overwhelmingly positive” status, and a nomination for best debut indie game at The Game Awards. Asked why Vampire Survivors has proven so popular, Galante says he has “no idea”, making the game’s success seem “really scary”.

“Since launch I’ve been trying to not look at numbers or at what’s happening online specifically to not get too carried away,” Galante tells IGN. “[I] kept my head down and kept working on the game and on the company, focusing almost entirely on the feedback from the players in Discord and the Steam forums. The one thing I’m sure made a difference though is our community managers who did and are doing an incredible job at keeping communications open with the players”.

Galante also says it was “straight up incredible” to be nominated at The Game Awards, and discusses the ethos around Vampire Survivors DLC. “As a player, I absolutely am into the idea of being able to keep getting content for the games I love, but very often nowadays I feel like DLC is designed around monetisation rather than around a good service to the players.

“Having a negative preconception of DLCs, I was very hesitant to try to make one, but I also couldn’t just keep adding stuff to [Vampire Survivors] for fun while there’s a company to think about. My greatest hope is that we managed to make it a fair deal for the players and they’ll like it”.

Despite its title, its full launch, and now its first DLC pack, Vampire Survivors still does not feature any actual vampires – among all the enemies and monsters you fight in its roguelike levels, not one of them is a verifiable bloodsucker. Galante still cannot confirm whether Vampire Survivors will ever feature vampires.

“Our marketing team said we can’t answer that,” he explains. “The problem is our legal team said the same. Also, what’s a vampire?”

If you’re jumping into Legacy of the Moonspell, check out our guide to the best Vampire Survivors builds. You’ll also want the best Vampire Survivors characters, and a full explanation on how to kill Vampire Survivors Enders boss, to become a true roguelike champion. You might also want to grab some of the other best survival games on PC.